State Police release report on fatal shooting of Houma teen

TERREBONNE PARISH, LA (WVUE) - A week after a grand jury decided not to indict the Houma deputy who killed a 14-year-old, a State Police report sheds new light on what happened.

Cameron Tillman was shot inside an abandoned house last September. Multiple residents on Kirkglen Loop in East Houma called police on Sept. 23, 2014, the night Cameron Tillman was killed. They made complaints earlier in the evening about a group of kids seen walking the street with guns.

A State Police report compiled after the incident says of the witnesses, "They did not observe any markings on the guns that led them to believe they were not real."

The report says Terrebonne Parish Sheriff's deputies Preston Norman and Andrew Lewis responded to the call, which led to them an abandoned house. They announced their arrival while knocking on the door. The report says according to Lewis, "The door then swung open really fast. A black male subject walked out, had completely, fully extended out with, what I believe was a black semiautomatic weapon in his hand."

Tillman's uncle, Furnell Tillman tells FOX 8, "This is an A-B honor roll student and he had way more sense and understanding to know that if a police officer knocked at the door not to go there with nothing in your hand."

Tillman's family disputes the notion that the teen had a gun - or anything that resembled a gun. Norman, who shot Tillman, told investigators he feared for his life. He shot the teen four times.

"When that split-second decision is made to determine whether or not you're going to use deadly force or not and that you're going home to your kids and your family, you know that's a hard decision they have to make," said Terrebonne Parish Sheriff Jerry Larpenter.

The report identifies the weapon found near Tillman as an air soft pistol. A BB gun was also located in the home.

Three teens were inside the house when Tillman was killed. They were interviewed separately, and according to a State Police investigator, all gave different accounts of what happened. One said Tillman was shot through a door, another said Tillman was shot while face-to-face with the two deputies.

Tillman's mom, Wyteika Tillman, says she'll continue to fight even after a grand jury decided not to indict Norman, because she believes her son was wrongly killed.

The report also says several law enforcement officers and emergency personnel all believed the gun found near Tillman was real. It wasn't until the State Police investigator took photographs and was in extremely close proximity to it, that he realized it was a fake.